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Every year, it kills over 2 million children below 5-year-old—more
than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. In the Asia Pacific region
alone, it infects 98 children every hour.
It’s pneumonia—touted by the World Health
Organization and United Nations Children’s Fund as the
“forgotten killer.” Misconceptions lead the public to assume
that pneumonia is no more threatening than an advanced case of cough
and colds.
Pneumonia is an inflammatory illness of the
lung. It can be caused by an infection by bacteria, viruses, fungi,
or parasites or by chemical or physical injury to the lungs.
The chief bacterial cause of pneumonia is the
streptococcus pneumoniae. Streptococcus pneumoniae is the bacterial
agent of a cluster of diseases known as IPD or Invasive Pneumococal
Diseases (IPD), which includes pneumonia. “Being the leading cause
of pneumonia deaths in children, a reduction in the incidence of
pneumococcal disease would most likely result in improvement of
child survival,” notes Dr. Lulu Bravo, Co-Convenor and Executive
Director of the National Institutes of Health.
Currently, there are only 2 vaccines available
against IPD—the 23-valent unconjugated polysaccharide vaccine and
the 7-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine (PCV-7). The latter is
scientifically proven to be 50-80 percent effective against invasive
pneumococcal diseases such as pneumonia, meningitis and sepsis.
PCV-7 is also the only commercially available vaccine licensed for
under-five children—the very age group that’s most susceptible
to IPD infections.
Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine, 7-valent (PCV-7)
is indicated for active immunization of children from 6-week-old to
9-year-old against invasive diseases caused by Streptococcus
pneumoniae.
For more information, schedule a visit with your
pediatrician.
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